Floor-clamp.



PATBNTED DEC. 5,' 1905.

E.B.HATCH. FLOOR GLAMP.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 9,1905.

. I l v.

Inventor.

Qttomegs ESBON B. HATCH, or" AGEEQQNEBRASK FLOOR-CLAMP.-

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, Es-BoN B. HATCH, a citizen of the United States, residing at Agee, in

the county of Holt and State of Nebraska, have invented a new and useful Floor-Clamp, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an improved floor clamp or jack, particularly designed for use by carpenters and .others in laying floors, weather boarding, wainscoting, or other matched or unmatched lumber, and has for its object to provide a simple, inexpensive, and efiicient device of this character by means of which the flooring-boards may be firmly held to ether without scarring or otherwise mutilating the matched edges of the lumber.

The invention consists in the construction and novel combination and arran ement of parts, hereinafter fully described, ustrated in the accompanying drawings, and pointed out in the claims hereto appended, it being understood that variouschanges in form, proportions, and minor details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the princi le or sacrificing any of the advan ta es of t 's invention.

n the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a floor jack or clamp constructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is a lon itudinal sectional view showing in dotted lmes the positionof the operating lever and clamping-lip when said lever is moved to operative position. Fig. 3 is a perspective view illustrating a modified form of the invention.

Similar numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures of the drawin s.

lhe device forming the sub'ect-matter of the present invention is partic arly designed for laying superposed flooring or drop-siding over sheathing, and consists of a base-plate or body portion 5, preferably formed of a sin le piece of metal or other suitable material, t e side edges of which are bent downwardly to form depending flanges 6 and 7, provided at their opposite ends with spurs or teeth 8, adapted to engage the sheathing and prevent slipping of the jack when in operation. Slidably mounted for longitudinal movement on the body portion 5 is a clamping-plate 9, provided with a longitudinally-disposed slot 10, through which passes a rivet or other suitable fastening device 1 1, which serves to prevent accidental displacement of the parts Specification of Letters Patent, Application filed June 9,1905. Serial No. 264:,[502- Patented Dec. 5, 1905.

while at the same time permittingfree sliding movement of said clamping plate. One end of the plate 9 is bent downwardly to form a clamping-lip 12, while the opposite edges of said plate extend beyond the-flanges 6 and 7 and are provided with oppositely-disposed notches or recesses 13, adapted to receive the pivoted arms 14 of a pair of tongs 15. The free ends of the arms 14 are provided with inwardly-extending lugs -or spurs 16, which engage alined openings 17 in the depending flanges 6 and 7 and serve as a fulcrum for the tongs in operating the latter to clamp the boarding in position.

In usmg the device for laying superposed flooring or laying weather-strips or rop-siding over sheathing the jack is placed in position slightly in advance of the board to be clamped and the terminal spurs 8 driven into the sheathing to prevent slipping of the jack. The lugs16 of the. ton s are then introduced in the openings in the anges 6 and 7, with the arms 14 engaging the recesses 13, and a forward pull exerted on the handles of the tongs, thereby forcing the clamping-lip 12 into engagement with the edge of the board to be clamped, as will be readil understood.

If desired, a suitable c ampingblock or strip may be inserted between the clampinglip and the board, being forced in position as an additional rotection against scarring or otherwise muti ating the notched edges of said board.

In laying ordinary flooring the terminal s urs of the body portion may be driven into the joist in front of the board to be clamped, or, if desired, the body portion and clampingplate may be dispensed with, the inwardlyextending lugs of the tongs being driven into the sides of the joist, as clearly shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings.

From the foregoing it is apparent that there is produced an extremely simple and inexpensive device admirably adapted for the attainment of the ends in view.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is- 1. A floor-clam comprising a base provided with depen mg flanges having open-- in s formed therein, a clamping-plate slidably mounted on the base, and means engaging the openings in the flanges for forcin said plate into engagement with the boar to be clamped.

2. A floor-clamp com rising a base vided with oppositely-d isposeddepen 'ng IIO * opemngs in the flanges and the recesses in the clamping-plate for forcing the latter into engagement with the board to be clamped.

4. A floor-clamp comprising a base formed of a single piece of metal the opposite edges of which are bent to form depending flanges provided with terminal teeth or s urs, a late provided with an elongated s ot sli ably mounted on the base and having one end thereof bent downwardly to form a clampinglip, a fastening means secured to the base and passing through the slot in the sliding plate, and means for reciprocating said plate to thereby force the terminal lip into engagement with the board to be clamped.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

ESBON B. HATCH.

Witnesses:

O. O. SNYDER, S. D. GALLENTIN. 

